MANAGER Mark Ashford says the call up of Sam Ashford for international honours highlights to his players that Witham Town is a club where they can place themselves in the shop window for recognition at higher levels.

Sam Ashford has been selected for an English FA side that will travel to the Falkland Islands next month to play two games in an ambassadorial role, with England C team manager Paul Fairclough taking charge of the side.

The Witham manager is delighted that one of his players has been honoured with a call-up for the national team and feels other members of his youthful Town squad can take inspiration from it as they also look to get themselves noticed in the game.

Mark said: “It’s great for Sam as a 22-year-old player and I know he will go up levels, but Witham Town are giving him a platform.

“He is one of a number of good young players who we have who will all go on to higher levels and I know in ten years that I will look back with pride knowing that we brought them through with Witham.

“I know they are capable of playing Isthmian premier football, National League South, National League or even in the Football League as full-time professionals.

“I said to the players that what Sam’s call-up tells them is that they can all be noticed at a club like Witham Town.

“People are clearly watching our games and Sam has been selected from that along with a few other players from the Isthmian North.

“The fact that you can get selected while playing for Witham Town Football Club shows that players don’t need to be elsewhere to be in the shop window. They can achieve it at Witham and people who come to our club can see that.

“Some of the players here now may not have been given first team football at other clubs as they may have been deemed to be too young, but they have been given their chance here and people are now talking about them.

“They may not have had people talking about them if they had been at other clubs because they would not be playing in that way they are with us and we are giving them the shop window to showcase themselves.

“My phone is almost constantly ringing at the moment with people asking for opportunities as they’re seeing what we’re doing.

“But I want to stay with our group as much as I can and to keep moving them forward both individually and as a team.

“Although we are a young group, there is still a lot of competition for places within the group.

“No-one is comfortable that they can’t be replaced in their position from within the group and that’s healthy as it shows what a strong group we have.”